Documentation is a large part of any software project. Unfortunately, many developers unintentionally leave documentation on the backburner, focusing instead on flashy new features. While creating features is fun and exciting, documentation plays an integral part in any project. It communicates with all stakeholders – developers, project managers, and end-users – precisely what the software does, how to use it, and what the roadmap looks like for the future. Custom software needs quality custom documentation, especially concerning the development process and what happens at each step.

When developing custom software, here’s what you need to know about the SDLC and what documentation happens with it.

Custom Software Will Have Milestones

Documenting the life cycle for stakeholders and end-users means that you should communicate a few key milestones. In particular, you’ll want your documentation to share the application’s release date, internal testing dates, patch dates, and when support for the application could end.

The software development life cycle has six stages: planning, analysis, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance. At the end of the last stage, support for the app ceases. As part of your documentation to the buyer, you’ll want to communicate when you expect to have design and implementation done. Depending on who is doing the testing, you may need to share those milestone dates too.

Ultimately, when documenting the SDLC, you’ll want to make sure the dates are in there. If not, people might grasp the stages, but not when they will happen.

There Are a Few Essential Documents

Recall the six stages of the software development life cycle. Each of these stages has documents associated with them. At a bare minimum, the developer should prepare the following documents:

• Planning: Statement of Work, Project Plan, Test Plan
• Analysis: Requirement Specification, Use Case Document
• Design: Design Doc
• Implementation: Code Reviews
• Testing: Test Result (as per the Test Plan in the planning phase)
• Maintenance: Delivery Notes and Bugfix Notes

These documents show the full extent of the software development life cycle and help clients understand what’s going on with their custom software!

Documentation Can Vary Based on Project

The documentation requirements can vary significantly based on the project itself. For example, a simple task may not need all of the documents above since it’s relatively straightforward and everyone grasps what needs to happen. Indeed, a simple bugfix wouldn’t require it. Conversely, an ultra-complex project might have additional documents like a requirement traceability matrix, meeting minutes, and more.

Documentation, however, should not impede development which is why there is typically flexibility around what documents are necessary as part of the SDLC. Quite the contrary, any documentation should be beneficial for all stakeholders in an application.

Custom Software Requires Documentation To Ensure Quality

Ultimately, all software development companies will need to provide documentation as part of the SDLC. Clients can then use this documentation to learn more about what the company is doing and provide more immediate feedback to prevent problems.

At INVID Group, we provide all the necessary documentation as part of the SDLC. If you have a custom software application that you’d like written, please contact us. We’d love to hear from you!